While an end to the crisis seemed within reach after the intervention of the Mediator of the Kingdom, who had reached an agreement with the pharmacy students, new tensions have reignited the conflict between the students and the Executive. Indeed, the recent violence and arrests of general medicine students have called into question the progress made, plunging the situation back into an impasse. Students were arrested recently during peaceful demonstrations, and some will be presented this Friday before the King’s Attorney General at the Rabat court according to our sources. The details.
Under the growing threat of a blank year, medical students have chosen to mobilize again to assert their rights and express their refusal of the proposals made by both the Mediator of the Kingdom and the government. On Wednesday evening, a sit-in was organized in front of the Faculty of Medicine in Rabat by the National Students Commission. This peaceful gathering, banned by the authorities, quickly degenerated into clashes with the police, leading to the arrest of around fifteen future doctors.
The next day, Thursday, the students, furious at this violent repression, met in front of the Avicenna hospital to denounce the “ incompetence and the inability of the supervisory ministries to resolve their problem and decongest the situation “. Despite the peaceful nature of this new gathering, it was also dispersed by force, and several students were arrested, including Yassir Derkaoui, member of the joint committee of students in medicine, pharmacy and dentistry, whose arrest was captured by the cameras of Hespress.
Faced with this escalation of violence, the parents of the arrested students reacted immediately. Worried about their children, they called for pressure to obtain their release. “ Three medical students were arrested alone, and we are trying to put pressure on them “, one of the mothers told the press, calling on other parents to join them in demanding the release of their children.
Another mother denounced the situation of these young people, saying that “ the three arrested students (Yassir Derkaoui, Aya and Yasser A.) are the scapegoats, while there are more than 25,000 students. They must mobilize “. She insisted: “ We can’t leave them alone, they are still young and have their whole future ahead of them ».
These parents, determined not to give up the fight, also launched an appeal to human rights defenders and lawyers to mobilize. “ Now is the time for those who spoke before to show their courage and dignity », Underlined one of the mothers, calling for solidarity.
For their part, the students, through the National Commission of Medical, Pharmacy and Dental Students of Morocco, strongly condemned the violence suffered during Wednesday’s sit-in. In a press release sent to Hespress FRthey held the government responsible for the repression and arrests, demanding an official apology for what they called ” brutal assault “. The commission also called for the immediate release of the arrested students, warning that such actions would only exacerbate tensions and reinforce general discontent.
« We warn against these behaviors which exacerbate the situation and only fuel student discontent without contributing to a solution. », We can read in the press release. They also denounced the government’s inaction, accusing it of letting ” the hemorrhage in public medical faculties continues » and not proposing any concrete solutions. “ His sterile dialogue language only suggests his desire to take revenge on the students whenever the opportunity presents itself. “, they added.
On the authorities’ side, the Rabat Police Prefecture strongly denied accusations of use of excessive force and arrests. According to an official press release, the intervention of the police was limited to dispersing the participants who had refused to comply with legal warnings. The Prefecture also specified that eight people were interviewed as part of preliminary investigations, without any measure of deprivation or restriction of liberty having been taken against them.
In this climate of growing tension, the mobilization of medical students and their families remains unwavering, while calls for solidarity are intensifying. This Friday, several students will be brought to justice, and their parents are urging a massive mobilization in front of the Rabat court to demand their release.
To be continued…
